Metaio GmbH was a privately held

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

(AR) company that was acquired by Apple Inc. in May of 2015. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, with subsidiaries in San Francisco, California, New York City,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and Dallas, Texas, Metaio provided a software development kit (SDK) for programming PC, web, mobile application and custom offline augmented reality applications. Additionally, Metaio was the creator of

Junaio Junaio was an augmented reality browser designed for 3G and 4G mobile devices. It was developed by Munich-based company Metaio GmbH. It provided a Creator application and an API for developers and content providers to generate mobile Augmented ...

, a free mobile AR browser available for

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

and iOS devices.

History

Metaio was founded in 2003 in Munich, Germany, by current CEO, Thomas Alt and current CTO, Peter Meier. The company grew out of an internal project within Volkswagen that received a German grant. In 2005 Metaio released the first end-consumer AR application called KPS Click & Design in Germany, which allowed the user to put virtual furniture into an image of their living room. Metaio also released the Unifeye Platform, which enabled third-party developers to create their own commercial AR solutions. In 2006, Metaio released the first browser

plug-in Plug-in, plug in or plugin may refer to: * Plug-in (computing) is a software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program. ** Audio plug-in, adds audio signal processing features ** Photoshop plugin, a piece of softwar ...

for web-based AR applications. Shortly thereafter, Metaio launched the first fully integrated AR application for mobile devices,

. From 2010 to 2012, Metaio presented the first commercial 2-D Marker less Feature tracking application for print and television on a consumer mobile device and as a result won the

ISMAR The Ismar is a right tributary of the river Câlniștea in Romania. It discharges into the Câlniștea in Naipu. It flows through the villages Radu Vodă, Dimitrie Cantemir, Izvoarele, Chiriacu and Petru Rareș Petru Rareș (), sometimes k ...

Tracking Contest in 2011. Since 2006 Metaio has organized

insideAR InsideAR was the largest augmented reality event in Europe. It was organized and supported by metaio GmbH Metaio GmbH was a privately held augmented reality (AR) company that was acquired by Apple Inc. in May of 2015. Headquartered in Munich ...

, an annual event solely dedicated to

developers, researchers and businesses. In 2013 insideAR was the world's largest Augmented Reality Conference. In May 2015, Metaio cancelled its upcoming conference and discontinued all sales of its products. On May 28, 2015, media outlets reported that Apple Inc. had bought the company, and finalized the purchase on May 21 or 22.

Products

Metaio offered products focused on product design, engineering, operations, marketing, sales and customer support. Metaio SDK - The Metaio SDK allows developers to use content without prior encryption. No offline tools or server side encryption is needed when generating and deploying 3D assets and tracking patterns. The SDK is currently supported on

, iOS and Windows with an additional plugin for development in Unity for

, iOS, Windows and

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

platforms. Metaio Creator - The Metaio Creator was an augmented reality software that allows users to create a complete AR scenario without specialized programming knowledge. Metaio CVS - Metaio Continuous Visual Search (CVS) manages marker searching online for image recognition. Metaio Cloud - Allows developers to upload download, store and manage content online. Junaio –

is an augmented reality browser for mobile devices. Metaio Engineer - Provides solutions for technical assignments from the visualization of future facilities, within a current production environment, over illustrating working instructions on a component to deviate measurement between virtuality and reality.

Press

In 2011 Reuters wrote an article about Metaio in collaboration with ST-Ericsson announcing the company as "The World-Wide Leader in Augmented Reality Technology." In 2012 The Next Web announced: "…While there are a slew of apps that tap GPS, image recognition, visual search and other elements of augmented reality, Junaio does a good job of merging them all."

Awards

* Auggies Award for the "Best Campaign," 2014 * Volkswagen Augmented Reality Tracking Challenge, 2013 * ISMAR Best Poster, 2013 * Auggies Award for "Best AR Demo," 2012 * Augmented Planet Reader's Choice Award for "Best AR Marketing Campaign" and "Best AR Developer Toolkit" for the Metaio Mobile SDK, 2011 * Best Android AR App Ever – Second Place for "Best App Ever," 2011 * Augmented Planet Reader's Choice Award – Runner up for "Best Augmented Reality," 2010 * "Innovation Spreis Des Jahres" or "Innovation Award Of the Year "for "Virtual Dressing Room," 2010 * "I Caught Their Eye" Award, Winner in the Innovation for Tomorrow category, 2009 * First Prize at "Deutscher Internetpreis" (German Internet Award), 2007metaio gewinnt Deutschen Internet-Preis
Retrieved 2007/11/12

References

External links

Metaio home page - website for Augmented Reality

Metaio Augmented Reality Blog

Junaio home page

{{Authority control Augmented reality Software companies established in 2003 Software companies of Germany 2003 establishments in Germany Companies based in Munich Apple Inc. acquisitions 2015 mergers and acquisitions